THE UNIVERSITY OF HAIRY KANSAS
THURSDAY, JANUARY 29, 2009
KU 68, NU 62
5B
BALL REWIND
Junior guard Sherron Collins leaps up to steal a backpass from Nebraska guard Cookie Miller with 16 seconds left and the Jayhawks up 65-62. Collins led the way for the Jayhawks with 17 points in a 68-62 win over the Cornhuskers Wednesday night.
Weston White/KANSAN
Collins'leadership seals Hawks'victory
Four free throws help ensure Huskers' loss
te/KANSAN 11 points
BY TAYLOR BERN tbern@kansan.com
LINCOLN, Neb. — Clinging to a one-point lead with less than one minute to go, Sherron Collins drove to the basket and drew the most controversial foul of Kansas season. It was also the Jayhawks' most important.
Collins crossed over to his left and used his bulky body to shield defenders. Nebraska's would-be hero Sek Henry, guard, who brought the score to 63-62 in a pair of threes, jumped in and clearly blocked the ball. But a whistle sent panic through the Devaney Center and the rafters echoed with boos and obscenities.
It's no surprise that Collins, junior guard, wouldn't give up the ball. He's the jayhawks leader, and when he feels like making a big shot it usually swishes through the net.
Henry and the crowd were angry and confused until the PA announced that it was guard Ryan Anderson who was whistled for hitting Collins' head on the drive.
"Anderson hit me right across the head. Wasn't no doubt," Collins said. "The block was clean, but that wasn't Anderson."
The explanation didn't satisfy anyone wearing red, but the play was simple from Collins' view. When he started the drive he anticipated drawing a foul and getting his two points from the line rather than the paint. And that's exactly what he did.
The junior calmly placed his toe at the free-throw line and sank a pair to put Kansas up 65-62.
Still a one-possession game, Nebraska ran down court into its offense. Junior guard Mario Little,
who played a career high 30 minutes, kicked an entry pass with 17.4 seconds left. It didn't seem like much, but forcing the Huskers under the basket was a huge swing in momentum.
"I was really looking for Ade (Daguduro),but the way the guy was defending me,I didn't think it was open," Henry said. "Cookie (Miller) was my last option."
Henry was the inbounds man.
Instead of an easy bounce pass to Dagunduro, Henry had to chuck a deep pass across half court toward Miller.
It would have been a success just to force an inbound pass that far away from the basket, but Collins wasn't satisfied with a nice play. He wanted a perfect one.
"Iwas just thinking about where Cookie was coming from," Collins said. "I knew if I chinned it then I'd probably get a foul."
So Collins shadowed Miller into the backcourt and channeled his free safety skills from high school to intercept the pass.
Miller immediately fouled, which sent Collins to the free-throw line once more. Kansas coach Bill Self said it's a good thing they called a foul because he thought Collins was about to lose control.
The final seconds could have gone a lot of different ways, but Collins' play and a little luck ensured that Kansas stayed perfect in Big 12 play.
Collins disagreed. However, his second straight pair of free throws made it a non-issue.
Nebraska coach Doc Sadler pointed to the freethrow line as a big difference in the outcome.
"We were fortunate, just in the span of 20 seconds, to have a lot of things go right," Self said.
"We go 14 times, they go 27 and make 1.9. They outscored us by 11 free throws," Sadler said. "We just can't overcome that."
Collins didn't score from the field in the final 10 minutes, but his four free throws iceed the game.
Edited by Heather Melanson
Weston White/KANSAN
BASKETBALL (CONTINUED FROM 1B)
a reason to be enthusiastic.
The Cornhuskers (12-7, 2-4) had out-played the Jayhawks(16-4, 5-0) until that point and led for nearly the entire game.
The first half belonged to the Cornhuskers. They were ahead by as many as 13 points and held the Jayhawks scoreless for a four-minute stretch in the middle of the half.
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor fights to maintain possession of the ball on the floor. Taylor scored six points and turned the ball over six times in the Jayhawks 68-62 win over Nebraska Wednesday night.
Nebraska senior forward Ade Dagunduro scored 13 of his garme high 24 points in the opening 20 minutes. The Cornhuskers went to the locker room with a 34-29 lead. "I felt very fortunate that we were only down five at halitime." Self said. "They dominated the first half."
A major part of Nebraskas success came from slowing sophomore center Cole Aldrich. As expected, the Cornhuskers double-teamed Aldrich any time he received the ball in the paint.
Aldrich finished with eight points and eight rebounds, but all of it came in the second half.
"He had a bad game," Self said.
"Hed be the first to tell you that. He didn't play as well as he's been playing."
Collins and sophomore guard Tyrel Reed compensated for Aldrichs sluggish night in the second half.
Reed answered by making two consecutive three-pointers that sent the jayhawks off on a 9-0 run. After he made the second shot, the usually reserved Reed even yelled something at Miller.
Nebraska guard Steve Harley made a layup with seven minutes remaining to give his team a 51-50 lead. It was the last time the Corn-
huskers led.
"I couldn't tell you what I was saying," Reed — who had seven points — said. "It was in the heat of the moment. My competitive juices
were flowing."
When Aldrich capped off the run with two free throws to make the score 57-50, the Jayhawks appeared to be pulling away. They kept the seven-point lead intact for the next three minutes.
All Kansas needed to do was take care of the ball to leave the Devaney Center undefeated in conference play. That didn't happen.
Kansas, which finished the night with a season-high 21 turnovers, had passes from Reed and freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor stolen on the next two possessions.
Nebraska guard Sek Henry turned both turnovers into three-pointers. Nebraska trailed only 63-62.
Contributing To Student Success
The Cornhuskers fouled Collins on the Jayhawks' next trip down the court, and he made both free-throws. Eleven seconds later, Collins made two more after intercepting an in-bounds pass intended for Miller with one hand to seal the victory.
"We got the one stop we needed,"
Self said. "That was the ballgame."
Collins remembered the steal, but was in no mood to talk about it. He wanted to focus on the incident with Miller.
"We aren't going to take nothing from nobody," Collins said.
Edited by Andrew Wiebe
VIEW FROM PRESS ROW
IT WAS OVER WHEN ...
Junior guard Sherron Collins picked off Nebraska guard Sek Henry's in-bounds pass with 16 seconds remaining. Collins lifted his right arm and pulled the ball down with one hand before it could reach Nebraska point guard Cookie Miller. Miller immediately fouled Collins. He made both freethrows to put the score at 67-62. Nebraska fans headed for the exits while the Jayhawk bench rejoiced. Henry committed the turn-over moments after hitting two three-pointers to make it a one-point game.
GAME TO REMEMBER ...
Junior guard Sherron Collins
Collins
Collins better have an adequate long-term memory bank because almost every game this year has been worth remembering. Collins didn't have his best game in Lincoln. But when it mattered, when the Jayhawks didn't know where to turn, Collins emerged. He hit four straight free-throws in the last 30 seconds and made a key steal on an in-bounds pass. He also scored seven points during a one minute stretch in the middle of the first half.
GAME TO FORGET ...
Freshman guard Tyshawn Taylor
Kansas had opportunities to put the game out of Nebraska's reach. Taylor routinely prevented it from happening. He finished with six turnovers — equal to his number of points — and had three personal fouls. One of his most glaring offenses came with 2:45 remaining in the game when he attempted a pass the length of the court. He threw it right to Nebraska guard Paul Verlander.
Tavlor
STAT OF THE NIGHT ...
21:That's the number of turnovers Kansas committed. It surpassed the 18 it recorded against Colorado for the highest total of the season. As Self would say, that's unacceptable. It's probably the reason why the game wound up so close.
PRIME PLAYS
FIRST HALF
10:45 — Dagunduro picked off a bad pass and breezed in for a layup to put Nebraska up 21-9. Self was forced to take another timeout.
18:20 — Steve Harley stole a pass at midcourt and boiled toward the basket. He missed the layup, but Cookie Miller was there for the follow. After Miller missed his lay-in, Ade Dagunduro thundered in to slam home the rebound and put Nebraska up 6-0. Bill Self blew up and took a quick timeout.
0:00 —Tyshawn Taylor pulled up for a three-pointer but instead passed it to a wide-open Travis Releford under the basket. Releford barely beat the buzzer and his shot gave Kansas something to build on in the second half.
3:29 — Little-used Cole Saloman
— 6-foot-5 guard — blocked Cole Aldrich under the basket and harnessed the rebound. Aldrich reached in for the ball and was called for his second foul. Aldrich sat for the rest of the first half.
SECOND HALF
1:03 — Sek Henry lit up the Devaney Center with a pair of improbable threes to cut Kansas' lead to 63-62. The crowd erupted and Nebraska nearly got another steal which would have given it a chance to take the lead.
29. 1 — Henry's heroic finish was almost complete when he appeared to block Collins' layup attempt, but the refs whistled Ryan Anderson for hitting Collins on the head. The junior calmly hit both free throws to go up 65-62.
10:46 — Sherron Collins' toe
edge inside of the three-point
line, but his long deuce was still
enough to give Kansas its first
lead of the game at 42-41.
WITHEY IMPACTING PRACTICE
8:47 — Mario Little hit the floor chasing after a loose ball and Nebraska's Cookie Miller piled on after him. What ensued was a scrum that Collins said defined the game and Kansas' never-back-down attitude.
Kansas coach Bill Self says he's amazed by the way Cole Aldrich continues to progress
GAME NOTES
Taylor Bern
Sometimes, Self can't even explain it. But lately, he's noticed a new challenge for Aldrich in practice: Freshman center Jeff Withey. Aldrich often plays against Withey, the 7-foot transfer from Arizona.
"Jeff's been good for Cole," Self said. "He's hard to score over."
Withey will have to sit out until the end of the winter semester after transferring to Kansas at the beginning of the spring semester. He is allowed to practice with the team until then.
"He plays on the second bunch," Self said, "so Cole and the guys who are playing the majority of the minutes have to go against him everyday.
Quintrell Thomas got his opportunity.
NO ENCORE FOR THOMAS
In fact, the freshman forward checked into the game early. Thomas came in with 15 minutes remaining in the first half and proceeded to give up a layup and commit a turnover.
Thomas played only one minute in Kansas' first three conference games before logging seven against Iowa State and grabbing four rebounds. Self said he liked Thomas' aggressiveness against the Cyclones and that he had a chance to re-gain a rotation spot if he continued performing steadily.
That didn't happen in Thomas' two minutes against the Cornhuskers.
ALDRICH ABUSED Verbally, that is.
And not from Self or any of his teammates during his offnight, where he finished with eight points, eight rebounds and four turrows. Aldrich heard it from the "Red Zone," Nebraska's student section.
When he missed a free-throw or committed a turnover, the Red Zone chanted his name. The students also chanted, "Aldrich sucks," during one timeout.
Case Keefer